Tag Archives: music

5 Therapeutic Activities for Alzheimer’s Care Partners

Posted on by under Care

This post comes to us from familyaffaires.com. I came across it on a LinkedIn post by a gentleman I met in a fantastic online course about dementia, Mike Good. Mike Good is founder of Together in This, an online community helping family members caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. Through short, informative articles and easy-to-use tools, such as the Introductory Guide to Alzheimer’s, he helps them take control and have peace-of-mind they are doing the right things.

You can access the original article on familyaffaires.com by clicking on the title, below.

5 Therapeutic Activities for the Alzheimer’s Care Partners

We often hear about therapeutic activities that are beneficial for the person with Alzheimer’s or another dementia but it’s just as important to consider their care partner – the caregiver.

Living successfully with the disease requires that both care partners enjoy therapeutic enrichment that benefits their mind, body, and spirit.

But because the caregiver is often the only person caring for their loved one, it is difficult for them to find time to enjoy activities that are beneficial for them as well.

There are activities that can be done together that simultaneously meet the needs of the caregiver while providing beneficial sensory stimulation for the person with Alzheimer’s or other dementia:

Read the rest of this article at familyaffaires.com

Advertisement

10 lessons learned from people with dementia

Posted on by under Inspiration

I was happy to come across this post on Huffington Post. I was just talking with Dan Mogensen from MindBuddy about how I would like to make a documentary that highlights some of the good things about dementia (philosophical views of personhood, perception of reality, changing viewpoints, mindfulness, humor, challenging individuals and society to accept and care for people who have different cognitive processes, increased focus on quality of life, etc. – we talked about a lot of things).

While this article isn’t necessarily focused on these ideas, I like (and think it’s important) that there is a growing trend in not focusing on the doom and gloom of dementia. Life doesn’t end with a dementia diagnosis. A person’s personhood and personality don’t end with a dementia diagnosis. Relationships and social meaning don’t end with a dementia diagnosis. They will take new forms and meanings, and will give new insights if we take the time to notice. Continue reading →

Culture change: Using imagination in dementia care

Posted on by under Inspiration

Forget About Memory, Focus on Imagination!

Published by on February 12, 2015.

This article is a re-post from Changing Aging, another great website to check out!

Yesterday, I had a conversation with a contact from a Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) in my home state of Montana who was seeking advice on how to drive dramatic changes in dementia care practices in the state’s nursing homes. (QIO’s are independent state organizations chartered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to advocate for high quality health care by providers receiving federal funding.)

She had seen Alive Inside and heard about my connection to the film (my mother runs one of the larger nursing homes in the state and has helped boost the film). Like so many other culture change advocates she saw this film as a clarion call for action.

She called asking for advice about how best to leverage the film to get nursing homes to adopt new practices of dementia care that will help dramatically reduce the use of anti-psychotic prescriptions to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia statewide.

Continue reading →

My BRAIN is alive . . . with the Sound of Music

Posted on by under Education

By  on March 5, 2015. This article is originally from Changing Aging.

“My BRAIN is alive . . . with the Sound of Music.”

Prepare your brain for a bountiful flood of new research on how music can “Change the Brain.”  For years, music therapy experts, caregiving professionals and family members have known, from personal experience, that music does something – or a combination of somethings – to improve health and elevate mood. But, the nature of that something remained mysterious.

Continue reading →

Film review! “Alive Inside”

Posted on by under Reviews

Let me start by saying, if you haven’t seen Alive Inside, please do. I saw it first a few months ago and have been watching it again as part of the training for a music activity program I am working on with Copenhagen Living Lab.

This film touches on many of the things that I love about working with people with dementia and their families. You provide the highest quality care by knowing the person and learning to listen to them guide you towards what they need. I felt my own heart in this film. I laughed, I cried, I was inspired. It’s an excellent documentary and definitely recommended!

Continue reading →